World Economic Forum and SABIC Host Roundtable on Employment in Riyadh, with the Support of Booz & Co.

The World Economic Forum together with SABIC host the Roundtable on the Role of Large Employers in Fostering Job Creation in the Arab World, with the support of Booz & Company

Geneva, Switzerland, 23 April 2012 - The Arab world today faces a clear imperative to accelerate job creation to ensure more inclusive growth and robust human development. Despite steady economic and real GDP growth in many countries of the region, the rapidly expanding youth population has generated a compelling urgency for governments and employers to address unemployment and support an ecosystem conducive for entrepreneurship.

The World Economic Forum together with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), co-hosted the ‘Roundtable on the Role of Large Employers in Fostering Job Creation in the Arab World’ in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 22. The roundtable offered a unique opportunity for employers to discuss concrete ways in which they collaborate with government and civil society to drive employment and foster entrepreneurship.

The objective of the discussion was to surface concrete models for large employers, which can drive job creation gains in the Kingdom and the larger Arab world, both in the coming year and long term. A special emphasis was given to policies fostering entrepreneurship and suitable collaboration frameworks between governments, academia and cross-industry cooperation.

The World Economic Forum is an international institution committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship. It engages with business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is independent, impartial and not tied to any interests. It cooperates closely with all leading international organizations (www.weforum.org).